Clemson pays up to keep offensive coordinator Morris

Wednesday

Dec 7, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 8, 2011 at 2:28 AM

Clemson made an increased commitment to football this week in the form of a record-setting agreement with Chad Morris, announcing a willingness to pay top-of-the-market prices to keep staff continuity.

By TRAVIS SAWCHIKThe Charleston Post and Courier

CLEMSON — Clemson made an increased commitment to football this week in the form of a record-setting agreement with Chad Morris, announcing a willingness to pay top-of-the-market prices to keep staff continuity.With suitors lining up for Clemson offensive coordinator’s services last week, Morris agreed in principle to a new contract which includes a total compensation package worth $1.3 million annually for six years, terms confirmed by multiple sources. The agreement with Morris, two years removed from coaching at the high school level, is record compensation for an ACC assistant coach and for a Palmetto-state football assistant.As of Wednesday afternoon the deal was still a verbal agreement and had not been officially signed, though no setbacks were expected by parties close to the situation.The new contract signals an aggressive new approach to spending by the Clemson athletic department. Clemson will have two of the 10 highest paid assistants in college football (Morris and Kevin Steele); joining LSU as the only programs to have multiple top-10 compensated assistants. The compensation will tie Morris with his mentor, Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, as the highest paid assistant in college football. The next highest paid assistant coach is Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart ($850,000).Consider in 2009, the entire Clemson football staff earned $2.7 million. Clemson’s total staff compensation for 2012 is on track to be at least $5.5 million.Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips spoke to the Post and Courier on Wednesday about the statement Clemson made with the contract.“Every school that really wants to compete at a high level you are in the market and you either respond to the market or you lose your coaches that’s the reality of it,” Phillips said. “(The escalating coaching salaries) is a phenomenon driven by the escalation of television packages.”Not only will Morris net a nearly $1 million raise over the four-year, $450,000 per year deal he signed earlier this year, but head coach Dabo Swinney met a substantial contract escalator by winning an ACC title.Swinney’s contract increases from $1.75 million to the median of the top seven coaches in the ACC, approximately $2.2 million per year.A number of programs contacted Clemson with interest in speaking to Morris in recent weeks, including Ohio State, which CBSSports.com reported Sunday started a bidding war for Morris’ services.“Based upon what (Morris) has done at Tulsa and what he has done here he has a lot of notoriety, nationally,” Phillips said when asked about the bidding process. “He’s a coach that a lot of schools would like to try to hire and that’s all I can say.”The commitment to out-bid schools like Ohio State starts at the top with Clemson president James Barker, who told the Post and Courier that while coaching pay “is out of whack,” Clemson will be competitive in putting together the best staff possible.“To do otherwise is to basically say we are going to accept something less than being the most competitive we can be,” Barker said. “As long as we are successful in terms of the athletic department paying its own way, and in the case of IPTAY making a $1.25 million gift to the university for need-based scholarships, it’s a little easier to sleep at night.”Clemson made just a $216,000 net profit in 2010-11. But Clemson’s ability to compensate coaches increased with the ACC’s new television deal which added $3 million in revenue to Clemson in 2011-12.Barker believes the ACC will enjoy even more television revenue after the deal struck with ESPN in 2010 is renegotiated following the additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the conference.“You can either say (coaching pay) is crazy and we refuse to play that game anymore,” Barker said, “or you can say America is a great country and here’s Horatio Alger story.”

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